BALTIMORE (AP)

Santana took a one-hitter into the eighth inning, Vernon Wells
hit a grand slam in the ninth, and the Angels rolled to 6-1 victory
Friday night.

It was the Angels' first win over Baltimore since Aug. 17, 2009,
when Santana threw six innings in an 8-5 victory. Los Angeles went
0-6 against the Orioles last year.

Santana (5-8) allowed three hits and a walk in 7 1-3 innings to
earn his first road win in seven starts since April 29. It was the
seventh straight start overall in which he allowed three earned
runs or fewer.

''Ervin's been pitching much better than his won-loss record
indicates,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ''I think a lot of
his losses were kind of close to tonight's game - there wasn't much
support, he pitched late, maybe there was a hit here they got that
we didn't get. There's no doubt his internal numbers paint a little
different picture of how well he pitched.''

The game might have been the last of the season for Baltimore's
Luke Scott. Activated from the 15-day disabled list before the
game, Scott hoped to play three to five games to determine if he
could play with a torn labrum and put off treatment until after the
season.

He went 0 for 3 as the designated hitter and appears headed
toward making an earlier-than-wanted decision about whether to
rehabilitate the shoulder or have surgery.

''He wanted to take a shot at it this weekend to see if it would
be workable,'' Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. ''That's
probably an avenue we don't go down anymore.''

The only hit against Santana over the first seven innings was an
opposite-field double by No. 9 hitter Blake Davis with one out in
the sixth. Undaunted, Santana retired J.J. Hardy and Nick Markakis
to keep the game scoreless.

Los Angeles promptly took the lead in the seventh against
Alfredo Simon (2-3). Mike Trout hit a one-out double and scored on
a two-out liner to right-center by Maicer Izturis, who came to the
plate mired in a 7-for-53 skid. Torii Hunter, 1 for 26 since the
All-Star break, followed with a double off Jason Berken.

Wells sealed the win with his third hit of the game, a two-out
grand slam off Kevin Gregg. All the runs were unearned, thanks to
an error by first baseman Derrek Lee at the outset of the inning.
It was Wells' sixth career slam.

''I'm glad we came out on the right side of it,'' said Wells,
who played previously for Toronto. ''Every game, we need. That's
what's fun about being over here - playing meaningful baseball
after the All-Star break. I don't think I've really had a chance to
do that, so this will be a fun run.''

Takahashi stayed on for the ninth and registered his first
save.

Simon gave up two runs and six hits in six innings but was
outdone by Santana, now 4-4 lifetime against Baltimore.

''Santana was throwing strikes, locating well. He threw his
off-speed pitches in fastball counts when he had to, kept us off
balance a little bit,'' Reynolds said. ''We put a run at him there
in the eighth inning, and the ninth kind of fell apart on us.''

The temperature at game time was announced at 104 degrees, the
second-highest reading at Camden Yards over the past 15 years
behind the 105 degrees on July 6, 1999, against Toronto. The
Orioles usually wear black jerseys on Fridays, but on this night
they wore their traditional home white uniforms as a concession to
the heat.

Santana had no problem keeping his cool.

''It was really hot, but I wasn't thinking about it,'' he said.
''Sometimes, you feel tired. I just keep my mind positive, focus
and do my thing.''

After Angels DH Bobby Abreu struck out with two on and two outs
in the third, Los Angeles used two singles and an error to load the
bases with one out in the fourth. But Trout hit a popup and Jeff
Mathis grounded out to first.

The Orioles, on the other hand, had trouble getting someone as
far as first base. Their lone runner over the first five innings
was Scott, who reached when Izturis flubbed an attempted backhand
pickup of a grounder to second base in the second.

NOTES: After the game, the Angels activated OF Peter Bourjos
from the 15-day DL and optioned INF Alexi Amarista to Triple-A Salt
Lake. ... Wells has 33 HRs against Baltimore, his most versus any
opponent.

Related Stories

Member Comments

Please note by clicking on "Post comment" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Use and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Be Polite. Inappropriate posts may be removed by the moderator.